Day 9 (Friday 15Nov19) Athens

The Athenian Greeks are totally mad (when walking, driving or riding on their roads.) There are interesting road rules and it’s everyone for themselves. Indicators are certainly an added extra on bikes,  zebra crossings can only be for zebras as not a relatively safe crossing for humans,  lane markings on the road are for show, parking is very ingenious, (wait maybe pedestrian crossings  are actually special parking bays), unsure of speed limits and so much for the 2 second rule when driving.  But after saying all this we did not see any accidents but lots of hand jestering from hard done by motocyclists who had been cut off.  Car drivers were generally courteous and willing to accomodate at intersections.  Motorbike riders however are very erratic and have a death wish. We will never drive here unless we have a death wish or have gone as stark raving mad as the Greeks. 

The building code (or lack of it) varies depending how far away you are to the Greek Parliament House. Near port, buildings tend to be run down similar to what we saw on Corfù.

The Greeks people are generally friendly and courteous to tourists. We used some basic Greek in our interactions which was generally acknowledged. A goodly number of business operators can speak enough English to communicate and many speak very good English. 

Today we had perfect weather unlike our previous ports. We started our day on a local “hop on hop off” bus. It was exciting ride (see driving above) through the port to Acropolis near the city centre. 

The Acropolis was amazing. The thought of all the famous (and not so) who walked this ground over 3000 years gives you something to reflect on. The views are amazing as Acropolis provides 360 views of Athens. The city of Athens is packed with buildings in every direction. We explored the ruins along with hundreds of others. 

Later we headed down into city to see the Agora and the Roman ruins. Again the sheer age of it makes us think how young our country is in comparison. 

Of course we had deal with the dodgy sellers of differing products. Were accosted by Nigerian refugees 😏 with bracelets and and Greek 😏 women selling woven cloth.  With a translator we would now know Greek for cheapskate, nasty person and many other explicit words😂

We walked the market streets and bought some shirts and keep sakes.

We stopped for lunch in the city centre, and enjoy some Guros and excellent Greek coffee. 

In the late afternoon we rode the bus again to the port. It was a ride better than anything at a Gold Coast theme park. A enjoyable day.